


The Devil is in the Details

by otppurefuckingmagic



Series: Malec Tumblr Prompts [7]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Arranged Marriage, Brooding Magnus, First Kiss, HEA, Headcanon, M/M, Stubborn Alec, Then Second Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 05:50:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6361960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otppurefuckingmagic/pseuds/otppurefuckingmagic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From this prompt:</p>
<p>What if after Magnus circles Alec and fails yet again to break Alec’s resolve, he heartbreakingly leaves Alec his ear cuff not only as a symbolic reminder of himself but that Alec still has a choice in all this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Devil is in the Details

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Italiano available: [The Devil is in the Details](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6615841) by [Katerina_Hummel_Di_Angelo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katerina_Hummel_Di_Angelo/pseuds/Katerina_Hummel_Di_Angelo)



> as i tend to do, i switched a few things up, wrote way more than i thought i would, and this got really angsty. apparently I have some unresolved feelings about these two…
> 
> oh yeah, and i’m completely ignoring theories and surprises and pretty much plot in general–besides the plot of them being domestic and happy. cause happy malec is life.
> 
> hope you like it @darquebane :) xx

Magnus wakes up the morning after the trial and dresses himself to reflect the darkness clouding his mind.

He forgoes his extensive morning routine for naked lips, a simple circle of blackened kohl around each eye, and his hair slicked–contained not wild–away from his face. The image in the mirror is of a man who is imposing. Detached. Unwelcoming.

Some would call this look more natural, and more professional, than his normal swirls of color and shine… But some would also contend he uses makeup as a mask. That isn’t its purpose, though. Magnus stains his lips, glitterizes his body, and dangles precious jewels from his neck when he feels most like himself. When he is happiest and hopeful.

There is, he thinks unironically, no joy to be found in his existence today.

The shirt he shrugs on has a high-neck that he buttons all the way to the top, the collar grazing the bottom of his adam’s apple. His military-style jacket is a drab color, the fit modest. He leaves his jewelry in the bowl by his front door and pulls on a pair of fingerless gloves.

He reveals almost none of his skin in this outfit–placing physical barriers between himself and the outside world, holding in his anger, and effectively barring any unwanted advances. Looking like this makes it easier for his demonic nature to slip through.

And he will need to carry hell in his veins to make it through today.

 

****

 

As soon as Alec strides out of the residential wing with Lydia at his side, he sees Magnus.

He’s seated at a table in the open command area, Clary standing with arms crossed next to him. Jace is across the table and Hodge is glancing between them at his position in front of a bank of screens.

Magnus slides back from the table just as Alec and Lydia descend the steps, and Magnus rotates on his heel with a flourish, then freezes–turning his body a fraction away from Alec when he realizes who is in front of him. His normally understanding (no,  _kind_ ) eyes have gone hard.

Alec can’t meet Magnus’ challenging glare. The way they left things last night is unquestionable. Inalterable at this point. Izzy is free. Alec has his bow. Both of those are the result of Magnus’ concern. And yet, Alec is still going to marry Lydia.

Alec tries to shake his unease off, to appear unaffected, but he knows he’s failing. The tenor of Magnus’ voice is combative and cold. Unlike any of the other times Magnus has spoken to him. Everything about the scene unfolding around him is wrong.

But it isn’t until Alec dares to really look at Magnus that he realizes just how wrong things are.

Magnus is like a wall of raw granite–muted colors, sharp edges and refined, unyielding planes. He looks formidable, on the cusp of frightening. It is a side of Magnus that Alec has never seen before.

Then Magnus locks eyes with him (looks at Alec as if they are rivals instead of something-that-never-quite-was) and speaks in a callous voice about Alec not wanting to tarnish his family’s reputation. Magnus isn’t holding back and, now, Alec can’t look away.

He is responsible for Magnus’ hostility. He forced Magnus into hating him. Magnus giving up on him should be all he wants if he’s going to keep his family and his secret safe.

He should be satisfied that Magnus is angry.

But all he is, is broken.

 

****

 

Magnus shouldn’t want Alec to be here, in his loft.

Nothing has changed in their battle of wills since this morning, and yet everything has. Ragnor is dead, Magnus is bone-weary, and Izzy is more tenacious than a ravener demon. So when Alec shows up at his front door, Magnus lets him in with only a minor scowl on his face. 

They have one drink in silence, then a second. Alec hasn’t even made it fully into the living room, settling a shoulder against the door jamb as he stares at Magnus as if they are in the midst of a deep telepathic conversation.

All Magnus can hear, though, is a faint whine from the refrigerator that can’t be magicked away no matter how hard Magnus tries. He’s tempted to banish the entire appliance just to regain some sanity, but if that icebox goes then Magnus himself will be the coldest thing in the loft.

Magnus sighs. How the hell did he get here?

He stands and begins to pace, but Alec looks more unsteady instead of less as he tracks Magnus around the room. Magnus talks as he paces, trying to make Alec understand what he’s giving up by marrying tomorrow. And something happens that Magnus doesn’t expect–Alec _listens_ to him.

Magnus still has walls up, he’s guarded if no longer armed, but he knows his resolve is crumbling–because Alec is crumbling in front of him.

Alec’s lips are glistening, his breath audible. His eyebrows furrow, deeply, as he downs the rest of his drink and sets the glass to the side. “What did you do with your cuff?”

That isn’t a question he’d expected at all. Magnus puts his fingers to the shell of his left ear–a movement that is more reflexive than a response. Him not wearing that cuff is a detail he didn’t think Alec would notice. But Magnus is beginning to realize that Alec has been watching him much closer than he knew.

“It wasn’t there earlier. At the Institute,” Alec continues, stumbling over his words. “I noticed that. And I don’t think I’ve seen you without it. Before. Before today, that is.”

Magnus freezes. He’s been looking at Alec all night, but it’s like he can see him for the first time. In that moment, Magnus is sure–Alec is feeling what Magnus is feeling.

As if he’s validating a point Magnus hasn’t even said out loud, Alec reaches up, placing his hand over Magnus’. He traces the line of Magnus’ ear, then circles his long fingers around Magnus’ wrist. Magnus drops his hand to his side, and Alec doesn’t let go.

Alec frowns. “You don’t look like _you_ today. And I know I did that to you. I’m sorry, Magnus.”

Magnus shakes his head. He wants to say, _You have nothing to be sorry about. Not yet_. But he doesn’t. Alec already feels enough guilt. He already carries enough of a burden without Magnus adding to it.

“I wasn’t feeling very decorative today,” Magnus answers instead. He reaches over with the hand not gripped in Alec’s fist, dipping into the bowl where he keeps the jewelry he wears most often, and picks up the twining serpent ear cuff Alec is talking about. He tries to smile. “See, I still have it. I don’t always need to be accessorized.”

Alec grimaces at that, and Magnus can’t put the pieces together of why that statement effects Alec the way it does. “I’m sorry,” Alec says, his eyes locked to Magnus’ lips, his hand is tightening on Magnus’ wrist. “I’m so sorry, Magnus…”

Magnus’ heart constricts, thrums out a faster beat. His name on Alec’s lips is more pained and familiar than it should be for how short of a time they’ve known each other. He hurts and now–shit, _now_ –he knows Alec does too, but he also knows he won’t be able to deny the request he can see building on Alec’s lips.

“I’ve never kissed anyone, Magnus. She’ll be the first, tomorrow, and I can’t… I shouldn’t ask this of you–”

“But you don’t want her to be the first,” Magnus finishes for him, attempting to speak around the ashen burn in his throat.

Alec’s gaze dances between Magnus’ lips and his eyes as he nods.

Magnus will say yes, he knows this. He’ll allow this to happen because he doesn’t want her to be Alec’s first either. It’s selfish from both their sides. Mutually destructive.

“Come here,” Magnus says, slipping that cuff on his finger so it doesn’t get lost, and reaching up to cup Alec’s neck, the metal of the cuff digging into his skin as he holds tight and urges Alec down.

It’s a simple kiss of lips and breath. Of warmth, and restraint. A tentative test that should be the first of many to come, but won’t be. Alec’s hand tightens on Magnus’ wrist, holding him tight and trying to draw him closer. He has to pull away.

Magnus licks his lips, memorizing the taste of Alec. This was a mistake. A mistake he would repeat again and again if given the chance, yet still the wrong choice. He struggles to speak, but needs to. He opens Alec’s fisted hand and lays the serpent cuff on his palm. “I want you to have this, Alexander.”

Alec scrunches up his brow because he obviously doesn’t understand what Magnus is trying to tell him, and _that look–_ that look that tells Magnus Alec _wants_ to understand–makes Magnus much fonder than he should be about all of this. “But why?”

He needs Alec to know he hopes this isn’t the end for them, but can’t say that. “The devil is in the details. And this is a detail that may matter more to you than me someday.”

It’s a piece of jewelry that didn’t cost much when Magnus bought it–a trinket–but the value of it can’t be measured in currency. The loss of it can’t matter to Magnus, because Alec having possession of it matters _more_.

Magnus wishes he could explain that he bought this cuff because the serpent is an ancient symbol of good and evil within one body–something that is at the core of who Magnus is, whether he wants to acknowledge his demonic origins or not.

He wishes he could tell Alec that it’s important to him because a snake represents medicine–healing. And although he will never be as skilled in that artform as Catarina is, this cuff is a constant reminder of the power over life and death that he carries in his hands.

He wants to tell Alec that this trinket may be silver, but silver is a metal that is often overlooked. A metal with tremendous magical properties. A metal that is much rarer than gold. That he draws a parallel there with Alec shouldn’t be a consideration in why he is giving Alec this gift. But it is.

He can’t say any of this, though, without laying something at Alec’s feet that Alec isn’t ready for.

He just has to hope that tomorrow, or someday, he will be.

“It’s yours now,” Magnus insists. “Something you can use for one of your tracking runes if you ever need me.” _A piece of me that I freely give to you_ , he thinks, but can’t bear to say out loud.

Alec doesn’t say anything. He stares at the cuff on his palm, then closes his fist around it and jams his hands into his pockets, his shoulders slumping forward.

There is much more both of them could say, but there’s no longer any point. Magnus doesn’t bother to say goodbye this time, he simply walks to his front door and opens it.

He can’t meet Alec’s eyes when Alec sweeps past him without another word.

 

****

 

Alec tries to breathe. To focus on the faces in the crowd or the fact that he has Jace at his side. But all he can see are the details–his father’s furrowed brow, the downturn of Izzy’s smile when she catches eyes with him, that his palms are sweating and he is shaking, that some of the flowers are already wilting…

All he can hear is Magnus saying, _The devil is in the details_. So he tries not to look that close.

He tries not to think about the serpent ear cuff in his pocket. How the delicate metal feels like a lead weight that is dragging him under as Lydia walks down the aisle.

She looks beautiful. She’s driven like he is. Her family and the Lightwoods have history. With her, he has a future as the leader of the Institute.

Those are all details that _should_ matter.

But none of them matter as much as the silver piece of jewelry in his pocket.

 

****

 

Magnus adds a streak of red to his hair, puts on his makeup, and shrugs on his favorite vintage jacket…because he hopes.

_One last chance_ , he thinks.

He has to know if Alec went through with it or not. He was invited, so he’s not technically crashing this party. But he hopes that when he gets to the church there will be no party to crash at all.

He doesn’t know what to make of anything when he arrives to silence. An empty church, with flowers still on the dais. The quiet is deafening, and Magnus has no idea what it means.

He pauses on the steps to the altar, pulling out his cell phone and considering how to phrase a text to Isabelle that doesn’t come off as desperate as he feels.

“Were you expecting to find someone here?”

Magnus throat clenches, he looks up and opens his mouth to reply to Alec, but can’t find his voice.

Alec has his hands in his pockets. His jacket is open, the bowtie still circled around his neck, as he dips his head down and grins. He begins to walk down the aisle, towards Magnus, all ease and pink-cheeked lightness in his step. Magnus has never seen him look more care-free.

“Alexander–” he finally gets out, but Alec lifts his head and smiles–really smiles–erasing every idea Magnus had of what he’d say next.

Then Alec is standing in front of him, a step below him so they’re eye-to-eye. Only a foot away, but Magnus still doesn’t know _for sure_ …

Alec clears his throat, and hangs his head again. He digs into his pocket and when he brings his hand out it’s balled into a fist. Alec seems to consider the weight of it for a moment, whether or not he’s going to reveal what’s there at all.

“You know,” Alec starts, with a smirk. “I think you got that saying wrong. It should be t _he half-demon-half-human is in the details_.”

Magnus feels his hope blossoming into something much, much stronger. Alec is joking with him, _teasing_ him.

“ _You_ were the only detail I could focus on today,” Alec says, his eyes looking almost golden in the cast of the stained glass windows. “The only one that made sense.”

Then he opens his hand, and Magnus sees that damn cuff.

“I don’t know what to do with this, so…keep it for me? I hope to not be far enough away from you that I’d need a tracking rune to find you.”

Magnus does smile this time. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, I am. Can I put it back on you?”

Magnus nods, but stops Alec when he goes to put it back in its usual spot on his left ear. “Let’s switch it up. I like change. New side for a new start?”

Alec leans forward, closing the distance between them, a confident smirk on his lips. He secures the cuff to Magnus’ right ear and his lips are right there, and Alec looks so joyful it makes Magnus’ heart hurt in a new, blinding way.

“I’d also like a do-over on that first kiss.”

The corners of Magnus’ lips lift, his heart pounding a steady rhythm. “I assume as a single man?”

Alec chuckles. “Yeah, Magnus.”

Alec grips Magnus’ lapels and pulls him forward into a kiss that is soft for only a heartbeat, then Magnus is draping his arms over Alec’s shoulders, circling his hands around Alec’s neck and tangling his fingers into Alec’s hair, forcing them impossibly closer.

And this, _this_ , is a first kiss that promises many more to come. This is Alec opening for him, breathing him in, chasing his lips when Magnus pulls away, desperate for air. This is Alec laughing as he refuses to stop kissing Magnus, until their lips are swollen and Magnus has no concept of how long they’ve been at this, but he can’t be bothered to care.

These are the details Magnus will never forget.

And Alexander is in every one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr @otppurefuckingmagic ♡ xx


End file.
